


Roomies Pt. 3

by beersforqueers



Series: Roomies AU [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ADHD!Sokka, AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxious!Zuko, Avocados, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Roommates, Tumblr Prompt, it has so little substance it's fucking cotton candy, like you put it in your mouth and it's just gone, oh but also there's science, science does not have the technology, this is honestly the fluffiest thing I've ever written, was it ever there to begin with?, we just don't know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8753953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beersforqueers/pseuds/beersforqueers
Summary: Based on the tumblr prompt, "Guy, you took my jacket by mistake" ...in which Sokka and Zuko accidentally swap coats at a party. All that Zuko wants is his keys back, but here he is babysitting an avocado for some guy he's never even met.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is SUPER short, I just wanted to put it out there to celebrate finishing my last stats exam of the semester!!!!
> 
> lol this is the least-betaed thing ever, just on another read-through I caught like 5 typos. Sorry!!!!
> 
> [Based on this post!](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/post/153791282224)

When Zuko got home, there was an avocado in his pocket.

It wasn’t that the avocado magically appeared the second that he set foot on the landing to his apartment, it was just that when he put his hand into his pocket to pull out his keys, what he encountered was not his keys. It was round and scaly and had just a little bit of give to it.

He pulled it out and stared at it.

His brain did not process its presence immediately. He could only look at it lying in his cupped palm.

His brain rewound, rebooted, and gave a little start.

It was an _avocado_.

“Why do I have an avocado?” he asked his unopened door and the avocado. His door he would not be able to open, because he had an _avocado_ instead of his keys.

The door did not answer.

Neither did the avocado.

“Well shit,” he sighed, and tucked it back into his pocket. It felt glaringly obvious now, and he wasn’t sure how he had managed to make it all the way home without noticing it.

He sat down on the top step of the landing and considered his options. He could call their cranky landlord, but he always smelled like cabbage and gave Zuko nasty looks when he tried to ask for something. He could go back to the party, where he had undoubtedly left his keys, but he had just escaped the crushing social anxiety. Even though it had been replaced by the crushing “I am locked out” anxiety.

 _Aang will be home soon_ , he comforted himself, and then immediately began spooling out worst-case scenarios. Aang might finally get lucky with Katara, he might stay the night, Zuko might never get back into the apartment and he’d be forced to sleep on the landing and then he’d die.

He wasn’t sure where he jumped from “sleeping on the landing” to “death”, but it felt right.

He went to pull out his phone. Well, first he accidentally pulled out the avocado, re-accustomed himself to its presence, and then went searching in his other pocket for his phone.

It was not there.

Ok, so this wasn’t his coat, and he was fucked.

He sat down on the step to wait.

 

* * *

 

Zuko felt like sort of a bad bro, but he was incredibly relieved to see Aang wobbling up the steps a little past 2 am. He laughed when Zuko explained what had happened, inspected the avocado critically, and then let them both into their apartment.

“No luck?” Zuko asked. He knew that Aang would know exactly what he was referring to.

“Noooo,” he sighed. “I mean, I talked to her most of the night, but then she had to run and save Sokka because he got his head stuck in the railing again.”

“Sokka?” Zuko walked over to the tap for a glass of water.

“Her brother,” Aang laughed. “He’s hilarious; you would like him.”

Privately, Zuko thought that he most likely wouldn’t like anyone who was dumb enough to get their head stuck in a railing. Plus he’d probably only meet this guy at Katara and Aang’s wedding. Which, at this rate, would be years from now.

“Was there any reason his head was stuck in the railing?” he asked dryly.

“I’m not sure,” Aang pursed his lips. “He’s getting his PhD in astrophysics and engineering at University of Chicago. I think he said something about the nature of the universe being holographic and then he just kind of went for it.”

Zuko’s mind went curiously blank, but he heard himself say, “Was he trying to make a point about 3 dimensionality holding up in our reality?”

“I dunno,” Aang stole his glass of water and sucked the whole thing down. “But I’m really drunk still!” he chirped. “If I’m not up by 2 pm tomorrow,” he paused to consider, “probably call an ambulance.”

“Sure thing,” Zuko said distractedly. He was thinking about how best to retrieve his missing coat; he sort of really needed it back by Monday.

Aang wandered off to bed, and Zuko went to find his laptop.   He opened the email Katara’d sent about the party and, gritting his teeth in embarrassment, hit “Reply All”.

 

_Guy Who Took My Jacket By Mistake_

_We’ve got the same Hawk & Co. jacket. It appears that you accidentally took mine from Katara’s couch last night, and left yours. Mine had my keys, which I clearly need. Yours had an avocado in the pocket, which I’m assuming is equally important._

 

He hit “send” and then stretched and glanced back at the kitchen clock. It was almost 3 in the morning. He shut his laptop; there was no point in worrying about an answer tonight. Hopefully tomorrow he’d find out who the hell had taken his stuff.

He set the avocado on the counter and went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still the most unbeta-ed thing EVER, didn't even proofread it, lol I'll do it later, sorry y'all

When he woke up the next morning, his email app crashed when he tried to open it on his tablet.

“Fuck,” he stared down at the screen in horror as the little red number bubble started ticking upwards. He scrambled out of his bed, tripped over a pile of clothes, and finally made it into the kitchen. He dropped the tablet onto the counter and grabbed for his laptop. Unfortunately, he also sent the avocado flying, caught with a lucky flail, and crashed into a side table.

“Zuko?” Aang came skidding out of his bedroom in a full-body fleece onesie. He was brandishing a hiking stick like a baseball bat. “Are you being attacked??”

“No,” Zuko mumbled from the floor. He was cradling both the avocado and his laptop in his arms. He wasn’t fully convinced that any of the three of them were safe.

“Oh, ok,” Aang lowered the stick and rubbed at his eyes. He slouched over to the kitchen and put on the kettle, then came to crouch down next to Zuko. He looked him very seriously in the eye for a second and then said, “I’m going to go throw up now,” and bolted for the bathroom.

“Lightweight,” Zuko scoffed fondly, and finally hauled himself up off the floor. He opened his email with a fair amount of trepidation. He had almost a hundred missed emails.

He scrolled through them slowly. They were mostly along the lines of _lol who brought an avocado to a party??_ and _hahaha tweeting this shit_ and _bro didja get into your apartment?_ Zuko rolled his eyes. Of course no one actually located his fucking coat. He snapped his laptop shut and went to check on Aang.

When he got back to his tablet, he had a new missed message. He frowned and thumbed it open.

_Hey, I got your # from Tara. You have my coat?_

Zuko grinned. Success at last!

_That depends, is this your avocado on my counter?_

Zuko left his tablet on the counter and went to make a cup of ginger tea to settle Aang’s stomach. When he picked it up again, he’d missed another message.

_Is the avocado ok? Will hold coat for ransom._

He smiled a little in spite of himself.

_The avocado is fine. There’ve been some near misses, though_

He winced to himself at the accuracy of that statement. His tablet pinged.

_It sounds like I’m setting up a drug deal, but where do you want to make the exchange?_

Then, a second later.

_I also have your phone, btw. Tara said you had an iPad or whatever_

Zuko frowned down at the screen before tapping out, _I do. And I don’t even know your name, I’m not meeting you anywhere_

_Fair enough, I’m Sokka_ _. Who’re you?_

_Zuko here_ , Zuko typed, and then ran to check on Aang again.

 

* * *

 

 

Half an hour later, Zuko was on his way to meet the mysterious Sokka. He had the avocado and an address that was probably going to take him halfway across the city. When he’d typed it into Google maps it told him that he’d be trying to find the “Kersten Physics Teaching Center.” He vaguely remembered Aang saying something about the University of Chicago last night, and he could only hope that their campus wasn’t confusing.

Another half an hour later, he was very confused.

He felt even more so when a blindingly attractive man nearly ran directly into him.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” the man squawked, trying to disentangle their scarves without getting too far into Zuko’s personal space. Not that Zuko would have _minded_ but he was currently rooted to the spot, and he could feel his entire face going red. “I got excited, that happens, I saw my coat, and I was just,” the guy finished looping Zuko’s scarf back around his neck—Zuko died a little bit inside—and backed up so that Zuko finally got a really good look at him.

The first impression of stunning hotness was not wrong. If anything, it got even worse the longer Zuko looked at him, and he could already feel all of the language centers of his brain shutting down.

“My coat,” he gestured at the guy’s jacket. It was, indeed, identical to the one Zuko was currently wearing. “It’s on you.” _Crawl into a hole, go home and get into your bed and do not come out of it again_ his brain helpfully provided.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” the hot guy— _Ok this is Sokka, you can guess that much_ —lifted his arms a little and looked down at the coat. He looked bemused for a second and then his face clearly instantaneously, “hey! Do you have my avocado?”

“Um. Yes.” Zuko reached into his pocket for it, but Sokka threw his hands out to stop him.

“No! Wait! C’mon,” he bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet for a few seconds and then turned and started jogging toward the closest giant academic building.

Zuko watched him for a second before his body kicked into gear and realized it was supposed to be following. He kept his eyes on the door Sokka was heading toward, instead of on the soft buzzed hair at the nape of Sokka’s neck or the way his shiny hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Or how his broad shoulders stretched Zuko’s jacket in a very appealing way, or how his thighs looked encased on tight jeans and how he’d be ok having those wrapped around his—

He walked into Sokka’s back just as he was swiping a card scanner to let them into the building. Sokka huffed a little laugh and glanced over his shoulder at Zuko before stepping carefully aside to hold the door open for him.

Zuko, blushing profusely, waited for Sokka to enter and then followed him through a labyrinth of dimly lit halls. They were lined with glass doors covered in posters saying things like “CAUTION: BIOHAZARD” and “RADIATION: USE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS”. He stuck close to Sokka just in case.

“Ok, here we go,” Sokka ducked around a final corner and pulled a set of keys—not Zuko’s—out of his back pocket. He unlocked a grey metal door and pushed his way inside. It was a small office with a few desks shoved up against the walls. There were shelves above them holding stacks of academic journals, old lab notebooks, thick textbooks, and boxes of Keurig pods. The remaining wall space was plastered with posters of the universe and printed memes, most of them containing physics-puns.

One of the desks also had the fascinating combination of: two limes; a gallon of cream; a bag of sugar; a blender; a bottle of vanilla; and a giant metal cannister labeled “WARNING: LIQUID NITROGEN.”

“Um.” Zuko didn’t know a polite way of saying that all he wanted was his keys back.

“Ok, gimme the avocado,” Sokka said, shedding his jacket and tossing it casually onto the nearest desk chair. _Hey_ Zuko thought. That was _his_ jacket.

He handed over the avocado anyway.

He jumped when Sokka nonchalantly flipped open a giant pocket knife and sliced the avocado open expertly. He squeezed both halves into the blender and began to add the rest of the ingredients, working in a flurry of activity. Zuko stood helplessly to the side, although he had to admit it was a little bit mesmerizing. Sokka moved with an erratic grace, hands alighting on one ingredient and then another, shaking his head and talking to himself as he picked what would go in next.

Finally he looked up at Zuko. For a split second he looked a little taken aback, like he’d forgotten Zuko was still there. But then he was using his foot to hook open a desk drawer and toss a pair of safety goggles at Zuko. Zuko caught them and put them on, unsure what to expect next.

Sokka pulled on his own pair, then a giant set of rubber gloves, and flipped on the blender. It whirred to life, sputtering as Sokka unscrewed the liquid nitrogen and began pouring it _into the blender_.

“Won’t that break it?” Zuko called over the noise. He didn’t want to distract Sokka while he was holding something covered in giant warning labels, but he had some concerns about the proceedings.

“We’re about to find out!” Sokka called back, and then set the canister down, looking down into the blender critically. Bits of green tossed up by the spinning blades caught on his goggles, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Amazing,” he grinned, and turned the blender off. After its deafening roar, the tiny office seemed very quiet.

“Ok, let’s do this thing,” Sokka fished a spoon out of another drawer and held it out to Zuko. He took it hesitantly, and when Sokka thrust the blender into his face, he had no choice but to scoop out some of the green paste.

He supposed it _looked_ like ice cream, but he wasn’t quite sure yet. He took an experimental lick and felt his eyes widen in surprise. He looked up at Sokka, who was standing much too close and looking much too excited.

“Is it good?” he asked eagerly. Zuko nodded numbly and licked the rest of the ice cream off the spoon. Sokka grabbed it out of his hand and popped his own scoop into his mouth.

He immediately crowed with delight. It came out a little muffled around the ice cream in his mouth, but Zuko felt a smile start spreading across his face in spite of himself. There was something undeniable about watching this grown man whoop with joy over such a basic science experiment. It made him want to get caught up in the enthusiasm.

When he’d calmed down, Sokka shoved another spoonful at Zuko. He opened his mouth and let Sokka feed it to him, too amused to protest. They finished off the rest of the blender together, and Zuko had almost forgotten about why he was there by the time it was gone.

“Oh yeah,” Sokka said, turning to him as he set the blender back on the desk. “I’m Sokka.” He stuck out a hand, and Zuko slotted his palm into it.

“Zuko,” he said, and laughed at Sokka’s grin, because it was too infectious not to.

 

 

                                       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Avocado ice cream is amazing, and my favorite day of the school year is when the chem and physics majors have a liquid nitrogen ice cream-off in front of my lab building. It's incredible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still super un-betaed, but hey! We are finally going places!!! YAY!

“You met Sokka, right?”

Zuko looked over at Aang. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, feet swinging back and forth so that they clanged against the metal legs of his stool on every pass. He had a crossword puzzle spread out in front of him and the air of a man hoping to be distracted from failure.

“Yeah,” Zuko mumbled. He set down his book and glanced over at his coat hanging by the door. It was a little stretched out in the shoulders, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Whenever he put it on he thought of Sokka’s broad chest and shiny hair and white teeth.

“He’s looking for a new place to live,” Aang said, frantically erasing an entire line of letters on his puzzle. “I figured since Jet moved out, he could take the extra room.”

“He wants it?” Zuko’s head shot up in surprise. Jet had been…an interesting roommate.

“He says he doesn’t mind a few holes in the wall,” Aang shrugged.

“But the—“

“…water damage doesn’t bother him either,” Aang pursed his lips and carefully penciled in a few boxes.

“Ok then,” Zuko said, and picked his book back up. He couldn’t concentrate on it, though. He twisted around on the couch and looked at Aang head on. “What happened to his old place?”

“His girlfriend kicked him out,” Aang said absently.

“His…girlfriend?” Zuko asked, swallowing convulsively around the lump in his throat. _The hot ones just **have** to be straight_ he thought with absolutely zero bitterness.

“Yeah, I guess he was flirting with some guy at work and she was sick of it. But I heard she’s already dating Toph, so who knows,” Aang shrugged. “He’s sleeping on Katara’s couch, and he _swears_ Teo is just a friend. Just like Haru was, I bet,” he scoffed.

“Haru who _Katara_ dated??” Zuko’s jaw dropped. Between the sheer volume of gossip Aang was dropping and the idea that Sokka might be bi, he felt a little faint.

“Yeah, that guy gets around. Must be the mustache,” Aang looked up from the puzzle thoughtfully. “Do you think if I could grow facial hair Katara w—“

“No,” Zuko said firmly.

“Damn,” Aang said, and sadly went back to his puzzle.

 

* * *

 

 

Sokka showed up with three suitcases, 2 boxes, and a boomerang.

“Zuko!” he heaved a suitcase over the threshold and onto Zuko’s foot. Zuko was too overcome by Sokka’s presence on his landing to notice the pain.

“You didn’t even come look at the room first,” Zuko said, nonplussed.

“Nope!” Sokka said happily. He yanked another suitcase over the uneven trim and shoved the last one after it. “I just wanna be off Katara’s couch. Aang’s been there every goddamn _day_ ,” he whined. “I love him, but man,” he grinned at Zuko. “It’s a little much.”

Zuko thought about the past two years of living in close quarters with Aang. “Yeah, it can be,” he said diplomatically. “You know you’re about to be living with him, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Sokka waved a hand airily. “Plus if he’s always at ‘Tara’s, he’s not _here_ , right?”

“True,” Zuko carefully squeezed past Sokka and into the hallway. He picked up one of the boxes and staggered under the weight. He looked around at Sokka with wide eyes.

“Physics books,” Sokka grinned.

“Right,” Zuko made to move back past Sokka, but it was hard with all the suitcases in the way, not to mention Sokka himself. He was just so big and sexy and Zuko didn’t want to brush past him, because if they touched Zuko would probably drop the box and drape himself across Sokka’s sexy sexy—

He finally maneuvered himself past the suitcases, then hesitated before he moved toward Jet’s old room. “It’s this way,” he said awkwardly, and tried to ignore the strange look Sokka was giving him. _He probably thinks you’re crazy and weird, oh god, look at him, he’s so hot, why did you agree to let him live here??_

Zuko cleared his throat and carried the box to the spare room.

“We lost the security deposit on this one,” Zuko said, grimacing. “No one really wanted it after Jet moved out, soooo…”

“I don’t mind, it’s great!” Sokka wheeled his suitcases in and took in the holes in the walls, the dark stain in the wood in the corner, the trim hanging off the side of the closet door. “Now I don’t have to feel bad if something explodes.”

Zuko swallowed hard. “Is that a concern?” he asked evenly.

“No, probably not,” Sokka started unzipping suitcases.

“Right. Ok. So. Um. I’m gonna go…” Zuko tripped backward out of the room. “Go,” he finished feebly, and left Sokka to unpack.

 

* * *

 

Sokka was right—Aang really wasn’t around much these days. In theory, that should be fine. Zuko liked his alone time, and the quiet apartment was perfect for afternoons when he wanted to work from home.

In practice, it meant a lot more one-on-one time with Sokka.

Zuko was jerking off a lot, and he was only a little bit ashamed.

Sokka just didn’t have any issues with _nudity_. He was practically naked all the damn time. Hanging out in his boxers to watch cartoons, stumbling toward the coffee pot with a towel wrapped around his hips, sporting low-slung gym shorts and a bare chest after a work out. His work out routine was trying to _murder_ Zuko. He always came back in from a run with his shirt off and draped around his neck, even if it was fucking _cold_ outside.

Because he was also a space heater. Zuko, who was permanently cold and had to sleep with a thousand blankets and a hot water bottle, was baffled by this. Zuko came from a warm fucking place, he was not accustomed to this Chicago winter, but Sokka would happily throw on a light jacket in a blizzard.

Well, Zuko didn’t have any hard evidence of that fact, but he had a feeling.

Zuko had to try hard not to unconsciously cozy up to him, but it was difficult.

Once, he was sitting on the couch, just minding his own business, perusing one of Aang’s romance novels, no big deal, when _bam_ , there was Sokka. He plopped himself down on the other end of the couch, and Zuko, being a considerate roommate, drew his legs up onto his half of the couch so Sokka a) could sit down and b) didn’t squish them.

It wasn’t until he realized his toes were much warmer than usual that he looked over and saw that he’d shoved them under Sokka’s thigh. Sokka either didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t really care, because he was drawing very intently in a notebook and clearly wasn’t paying attention to the 10 tiny ice cubes under his leg.

Zuko was mortified, but also his feet were so _warm_ , and so he guiltily stayed on the couch with Sokka until Aang came home with carryout.

They carried on like that for several weeks, and it was _good_. Sokka was fundamentally easy to get along with, the type of chill and engaging and funny that Zuko found hopelessly disarming. Zuko liked him and he liked living with him, but he did not like that his attraction couldn’t seem to disappear.

He tried Tinder.

“Are you sure?” Aang asked dubiously. His grey eyes were big and round and staring at Zuko concernedly.

“Yeah, what could go wrong?” Zuko shrugged. He was having heart palpitations even as the words left his mouth.

“What’s gonna go wrong?” Sokka wandered into the kitchen, predictably shirtless. He was wearing a pair of shredded jeans barely held up by the sharp jut of his hipbones. A prominent strip of underwear waistband hugged Sokka’s body, and when he reached up to get a mug from an upper cabinet the little dimples at the small of his back made Zuko’s mouth water. Everything about Sokka’s body was so delicious and so undeniably masculine that Zuko wondered how he’d ever gotten it up for Mai.

Maybe he was just a Sokka-sexual.

God, that was an embarrassing thought.

“Zuko on Tinder,” Aang said. “Apparently he’s feeling thirsty.”

Sokka froze with his hand on a mug, then immediately recovered and turned to smirk at Zuko. Zuko wouldn’t have noticed at all if he hadn’t been watching Sokka so closely. Not that he was staring, that was creepy. He wasn’t creepy.

“Any lucky ladies so far?” Sokka looked down at the mug. It was one of those hand-sculpted ones that Katara loved, and Sokka carefully fit his fingers into the organic grooves of the clay. It was all so nonchalant that Zuko wondered if it was _too_ nonchalant.

 _Don’t get your hopes up_ he told himself sternly.

“I think he’s on the prowl for dick,” Aang said earnestly. “I told him Grindr—“

The mug hit the ground and smashed.

“Oh shit, sorry!” Sokka yelped. He made an abortive movement toward the pantry, but Zuko’s hand shot out to stop him.

“You aren’t wearing shoes!” he warned, and went for the broom and dustpan himself. Cleaning up the broken pottery necessitated him being on his knees in front of Sokka, however.

He dropped to them anyway, wishing fervently that it was under different circumstances.

“So, uh, looking for a daddy, then?” Sokka said breathlessly.

Zuko peered up at him suspiciously. He figured he must sound breathless because he was laughing, and he wasn’t disappointed. Sokka _did_ look amused; he was obviously making a joke, although it didn’t seem to be at Zuko’s expense. And he was looking down at Zuko with an unfamiliar intensity that made Zuko shiver.

“Like a sugar daddy?” Aang chirruped.

Zuko wanted to go back into the pantry and never leave. As it was, he put the dustpan away and returned to the kitchen because he was a glutton for punishment.

“I think anyone can be a daddy, it’s not like…”

Great, Sokka and Aang were having a full-blown discussion about this, and it didn’t need to involve—

“Zuko, where you goin?” Sokka’s voice pulled Zuko back from the doorway he’d covertly been trying to escape through.

“Not to download Grindr,” Zuko mumbled. “I think I need to delete Tinder.”

“You just barely started!” Aang protested. “If it’s because I teased you…”

“No,” Zuko sighed. He reluctantly turned back to the kitchen at large. “I don’t think I’m really cut out for dating.”

“What makes you say that?” Sokka asked. His tone was surprisingly hard-edged.

“Nothing, I just…” Zuko flushed. Sokka was giving him that face he gave his physics problems, and he didn’t know how to feel about it. “I’m not very good at it,” he mumbled.

“At dating?” Sokka quirked an eyebrow. “Who told you that?”

“My unsuccessful love life?” Zuko folded his arms over his chest and shuffled his feet awkwardly. “My crippling neuroses? My terrible social skills?”

“What the fuck, man,” Sokka said, and now his voice was soft. Zuko chanced a look at him and then sort of wished he hadn’t. Sokka’s face was open and sincere and troubled. Aang was sitting very still and silent at the counter, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them.

“You could get better at it,” Sokka suggested. “If you practiced.”

“Yeah, thanks, I don’t really feel like making an ass out of myself with strangers,” Zuko snorted. “Even if it is for ‘practice’.”

“Who says you need to practice with a stranger?” Sokka tipped his head to the side, and it was his turn to cross his arms. They flexed appealingly across his bare chest.

“I don’t see any of my friends lining up to date me,” Zuko said.

“That’s dumb, I’ll take you out,” Sokka said, and suddenly his face cleared and he was his usual cheery self again. “This weekend! It’ll be great! You’ll see that dating isn’t so scary.”

“Oh boy,” Aang said quietly, and slipped off of his stool and out of the room.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo this thing took me approximately forever, and I'm sorry about that! But finals are over and so I wanted to wrap this up as a treat to us all :-) May the summer be less stressful than junior year of college...
> 
> Also, by some incredible miracle, this chapter IS beta-ed! The beautiful, amazing, incredible [blabrabs](https://blabrabs.tumblr.com/) did this thing for me (and, like, months ago, I'm just a remarkably lazy fuck), so thank you for making the final installment better than the previous 3.

Part of Zuko still couldn’t believe Aang had ever uttered the words “on the prowl for dick” and the rest of him refused to believe he’d said it in front of Sokka.

And yet here Zuko was, getting ready for a date with Sokka because of Aang’s big mouth.

_Ok but not a real date_ he reminded himself. _It’s a friendly **practice** date. Sokka is preparing you to date someone else._

That was too depressing to think about any further, and it definitely didn’t decrease the anxiety he felt as he left their apartment. They’d agreed to meet at the restaurant because Sokka wanted the simulation to be thorough.

Zuko didn’t really know what that meant, but he was wearing a tie, and he was terrified.

As he neared the address Sokka had given him, he got confused. It wasn’t a formal restaurant but a little Italian deli, the type of place that was swanky but pretending to be lowbrow, with a long deli case full of fancy meats and cheeses and pasta salads. Zuko could see Sokka through the fogged up windows, chatting animatedly with the man behind the counter. He was pointing things out through the glass case, trying samples, wrinkling his nose and then laughing, shaking his head emphatically when he liked or didn’t like something.

He took Zuko’s breath away.

Zuko shouldered his way inside and was stunned by the beaming smile Sokka immediately turned his way.

“Zuko!” Sokka threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a loose hug. “Alphonse, this is my date.”

“A lucky man,” the guy said, and gathered up an armful of parcels and began loading them into a wicker hamper.

“Are we going for a picnic?” Zuko squinted at the back counter as Alphonse wrapped a loaf of crusty bread in paper and added it to the basket. He could see a bottle of wine and a small parcel that was blotched with grease spots. His stomach rumbled, but…“Sokka, it’s freezing outside,” he pointed out.

“It’s a surprise, and eventually I will tell you,” Sokka said magnanimously, and accepted the basket from Alphonse, handing over a credit card. “So you found this place ok?”

“Yeah. It’s nice,” Zuko was thoroughly disarmed. He hadn’t anticipated an adventure tonight. Just an awkward sit-down at a too-fancy restaurant where they’d make stilted conversation and share expensive cheesecake.

“It’s not the main event, though,” Sokka said, and took his card back. “Wish us luck, Al!” he waved goodbye to the counter-man, who chortled and wished them luck in what Zuko could only assume was Italian.

“After you,” Sokka said as he walked them to the curb and pulled open the passenger door of his car. Zuko settled himself into the seat and waited while Sokka put the hamper in the back and climbed in. “Ready to go?”

“…yes?” Zuko said. His anxiety was threatening to spike at the element of unknown, but he trusted Sokka. Sokka being here would make it ok.

“Awesome,” Sokka said, and put the car in gear.

Sokka’s car was sort of junkie, but mostly clean. There were scattered class notes on the ground and a small model of the galaxy—“not to scale” Sokka assured him—and the car quickly filled with the smell of the fresh bread. Sokka was driving them out of the skyscrapers, out along the water, and Zuko recognized the building they pulled up in front of. The dome on top was unmistakable.

“Isn’t it closed?” Zuko turned to stare at Sokka. This was just too much.

“Not if you know the astrophysicists,” Sokka grinned again, and grabbed the hamper out of the backseat before Zuko had a chance to carry it.

They walked around the back of the building and sure enough, as soon as Sokka sent a text, a nondescript back door creaked open.

“Hey Yue!” Sokka grinned and pulled the door the rest of the way open to let Zuko in. It opened into a hallway in the underbelly of the building, where there a very beautiful young woman waiting for them. She was wearing a dark blue lab coat and had her silver-white hair piled on top of her head.

“Hello Sokka,” she smiled softly at him, and Zuko felt distinctly uncomfortable. New girlfriend? Old girlfriend? … _Current_ girlfriend? “Let me take you guys upstairs. The janitors and security guys know not to bother you.”

“Thanks, boo,” Sokka tugged her into a hug, and then fell back to speak to Zuko. “Yue studies theories of lunar formation,” he explained, then clarified, “how the moon got made.”

“Right. Cool,” Zuko tried to exude a confidence he definitely did not feel. Sokka seemed to sense it, because he switched the hand he was using to carry the basket and reached down to grasp Zuko’s fingers. The light pressure settled Zuko’s stomach but set his heartbeat racing.

Yue’s heels clicked as she led them up a set of stairs and into a spacious foyer with a slanted glass roof.

“Welcome to the Adler Planetarium, boys,” she smiled. “Sokka, you know the way from here?”

“You betcha,” Sokka nodded, and dropped Zuko’s hand to give her a kiss on the cheek. Zuko’s stomach dropped.

“Have fun,” Yue winked at Zuko. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be just fine,” Sokka assured her. “We’re going into the theatre,” he said to Zuko, pitching his voice so that it was just for him. Zuko looked around for Yue, but she was already halfway back across the foyer.

“Ok,” he whispered back.

The theatre was amazing. He had no idea who else Sokka must have bribed to arrange this, but the theatre was hushed and dark and empty, the entire domed ceiling and floors displaying a gorgeous view of the night sky. Zuko had never seen the Milky Way before, but there it was hanging like smoke above their heads, the stars and planets like jewels strewn across it.

“Whoa,” he whispered, but when he looked over at Sokka, Sokka wasn’t looking at the sky. His face was hardly lit, but he was unmistakably watching Zuko.

Zuko blushed and started walking toward the front of the theatre. The seats ended there, and there was an expanse of empty floor where…there was a picnic blanket stretched out, with candles and a fucking _bouquet of flowers_.

“This is just too much,” Zuko spluttered. “Sokka…”

“What?” Sokka said. His eyes were wide and innocent.

“Sokka, this is a _practice_ date, you didn’t have to—“ Zuko felt quite overwhelmed.

Sokka waved his protests away. “I _did_ have to, because I wanted to.” He sat down on the blanket and started unpacking the food. Each parcel unwrapped to reveal a gourmet morsel: soft, ripe cheese; tiny sweet figs; cold roasted asparagus spears; squares of fragrant chocolate; strips of paper-thin prosciutto. Even a set of plastic wine glasses that Sokka set next to the blanket while he uncorked the wine to let it breathe.

“You made it sound like no one had ever taken you out like you deserved,” Sokka said earnestly. “Let me do that for you.”

“You’re a good…” _friend?_ “…person.” Zuko said lamely.

“Yeah,” Sokka laughed a little to himself, but it wasn’t an amused sound. “That’s what I’m going for here.”

Zuko was too confused to try to parse that, so he sat down too and allowed Sokka to rip him a chunk of bread.

“So…how do you know Yue?” he finally asked.

“The truth?” Sokka tilted his head to the side and looked up at the stars. “She was my first love.”

“You’re not still together, right?” Zuko asked, then winced. _Way to be obvious._

“No, definitely not,” Sokka smiled gently at Zuko, who had the feeling Sokka could see right through him. “Just good friends. As teenagers we bonded over the stars, but she did an accelerated PhD and started working first. And she was sick for a while…I wasn’t sure she’d make it.”

“Oh,” Zuko looked down at his hands. “Sorry.”

“It turned out fine,” Sokka assured him. “Tell me something about you, though.”

“You already know everything,” Zuko mumbled. “We live together.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sokka poured them each a glass of wine. “I know what brand of tea you like. I know what your shampoo smells like. I know your feet get cold. I don’t know shit about anything else.”

Zuko hoped the darkness hid his blush—it was strange to know that Sokka didn’t just look at him, he _saw_ him. “I have a sister,” he said finally. “My dad’s in prison, so I was raised by my Uncle Iroh. My mom left us when I was little, but she has a new husband and a kid I see sometimes. They live in Florida.” The whole rendition felt exactly as stilted as Zuko had expected, but when he looked at Sokka, his expression was rapt with interest. “I was born here, and my sister still lives here, but Uncle and I traveled a lot when I was younger, and he settled in Detroit to open a teashop. I take the train to see him sometimes.”

“I traveled a lot as a teenager too,” Sokka smiled at him. “After my mom died my sister and I were raised in Canada by our Gran Gran, but we did an alternative program for high school and met Aang. Our dad works in Alberta.”

“Huh,” Zuko took a sip of his wine. “So how’d you and Yue both end up in Chicago? Why Chicago?”

“Yue was already here and Aang had a job offer, and both ‘Tara and I wanted to be somewhere we knew people. So I applied to DePaul, U of C, Northwestern… when U of Chicago took me, I came,” Sokka shrugged. “I like it here.”

“You wanna end up here forever?” Zuko asked shyly. He bounced the wine cork, trying to get it to land on its end.

“Yeah, maybe,” Sokka said softly.

They ate quietly for a little while, looking up at the stars and pointing out constellations they knew. Every once in a while a shooting star crossed the screen, and before Zuko knew it, they were lying side by side on the blanket, food packed away again, while Sokka regaled him about some complicated time/space theorem.

“Am I boring you?” Sokka finally asked, turning his face toward Zuko’s.

“No, not at all,” Zuko whispered, and he was embarrassed at how breathless he sounded. He hadn’t been bored at all; he could watch Sokka talk about his passions all day. His whole face lit up and he started waving his hands in broad strokes, painting imaginary images in the air to aid his explanations.

“Good,” Sokka was still staring at him. He hefted himself up onto one elbow so that he was looming over Zuko, and he reached down hesitantly to brush some of Zuko’s hair away from his eyes. Zuko couldn’t hear anything but the rush of blood in his own ears. “Is this ok?” Sokka asked, and he leaned down, lips just brushing Zuko’s.

Zuko panicked.

“A practice kiss to go with the practice date?” he said abruptly. It came out louder than he’d meant it to, and Sokka cringed away. “You know, I _have_ been kissed before.”

“What? I didn’t mean—” Sokka looked horrified, and Zuko felt a stab of guilt shoot through him.

“I get that this is a pity thing, but _Jesus_ , how far were you gonna take it?” Zuko sat up, hitching his knees up so he could hang his head between them, trying to rein in his breath. “Were you gonna end it with a pity fuck?” There was a beat of silence that lasted just too long, and Zuko shrunk even further into himself.

“Zuko, it isn’t like that,” Sokka finally said, and he sounded devastated. Zuko couldn’t look at him.

“What is it like, then?” he choked out.

“ _I like you_ ,” Sokka blurted out, and Zuko’s head whipped around so fast he nearly hurt himself. “I wanted to take you out because I like you, not because it was really for practice. I just thought that was, you know, the best way not to scare you off.”

“You’re kidding,” Zuko said uncertainly.

“Not even a little bit,” Sokka said seriously. “Maybe for the first time ever.”

“You—“ Zuko couldn’t assimilate this new information. His brain was going to explode.

It seemed to be Sokka’s turn to panic, his words coming faster and faster. “—if you don’t want me to kiss you, I get it; if this didn’t feel like a real date, or if you—,”

“Sokka, no, I really, I mean—“ Zuko tried, but Sokka was in full flow.

“—I mean, that avocado email, like holy shit, how could I not like you, that was like the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And shit, I must have read it wrong, but you always _looked_ when I was naked, I figured—“

Zuko sat up on his knees and grabbed Sokka by the face, forcing him to look at him. “Sokka,” he said, enunciating as clearly as possible. His heart was racing so hard that he could barely hear his own voice. He carried on anyway, “I _really_ like you, it’s super embarrassing.”

“You—“ Sokka said, and his voice was full of relief. He slumped into Zuko, who was not prepared for 200 lbs of muscled man to drop onto him unexpectedly. He keeled over backwards onto the floor in a tangle of ungainly limbs. “Oh shit!” Sokka squawked. “Sorry! I was so relieved, I—“

Zuko clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sokka,” he said very seriously. “You are very hot, but I cannot breathe.”

Sokka rolled off of him immediately and flopped over onto his back, forearm thrown dramatically over his face. “This evening,” he said, “has been a fucking emotional roller coaster.”

“Tell me about it,” Zuko said. Now that he was lying here, tension draining out of his body, he felt fucking exhausted. “I was so nervous.”

“ _You_ were nervous? Since when are you nervous about things?” Sokka asked, and when Zuko looked over at him, he was grinning.

“Oh fuck you,” Zuko said, disgruntled.

“Well…” Sokka propped himself back up. “I don’t know about that, but do you want to try this again?” He leaned down into Zuko’s space, but didn’t kiss him.

“Yes,” Zuko breathed, and closed the distance.

 

* * *

 

So making out on the floor of the city planetarium until 2 in the morning wasn’t how he though his evening would end, but Zuko didn’t have it in him to complain about it. By the time they made it home they were both exhausted and slap happy, but they went to sleep in separate beds.

Aang took one look at them the next morning and slunk back to his room with his crossword, muttering something about “the goddamn honeymoon phase”.

He was too busy thinking about when he could sneak into Sokka’s room to finish what they started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please come visit me on [tumblr](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com)!!!

**Author's Note:**

> [beersforqueers on tumblr](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/)


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